Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia

In this article we experimentally evaluate Colombia’s Think Equal program, which teaches socioemotional skills to children ages 3 to 6. Given the context of COVID-19, the original design was adapted as a hybrid model, alternating in-person and remote instruction and engaging families in the implementation of the curriculum. We found that the program had positive effects on children’s prosocial behavior, self-awareness, and cognitive learning. The intervention also had an impact on education centers personnel (community mothers) and caregivers implementing the activities. Treated community mothers had higher levels of empathy, lower negative health symptoms, better pedagogical practices, and a closer relationship with the children’s caregivers compared with those in the control group. Treated caregivers had better stimulation practices and lower negative health symptoms compared with those in the control group. These findings suggest that a well-designed intervention has the potential to develop socioemotional skills in children at an early age and, at the same time, to develop capacities in those who implement the activities. Our results have important implications for the design, implementation, and evaluation of early childhood socioemotional learning programs and provide novel evidence about the challenges faced by interventions combining face-to-face and remote learning.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Inter-American Development Bank
Other Authors: María Mercedes Mateo-Berganza Díaz
Language:English
Published: Inter-American Development Bank
Subjects:Children, Early Childhood Development, Socio-Emotional Skill, Socio-Emotional Development, Blended Learning, Skills, Randomized Controlled Trial, Early Childhood Education, Educational Research, Curriculum, Learning, Education, Population Aging, C93 - Field Experiments, I20 - Education and Research Institutions: General, I24 - Education and Inequality, Preschool learning;socioemotional learning;early childhood development;parent engagement;randomized controlled trial,
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0004877
https://publications.iadb.org/en/socioemotional-learning-early-childhood-education-experimental-evidence-think-equal-programs
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spelling dig-bid-node-335992023-05-08T15:14:43ZSocioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia 2023-05-02T00:05:00+0000 http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0004877 https://publications.iadb.org/en/socioemotional-learning-early-childhood-education-experimental-evidence-think-equal-programs Inter-American Development Bank Children Early Childhood Development Socio-Emotional Skill Socio-Emotional Development Blended Learning Skills Randomized Controlled Trial Early Childhood Education Educational Research Curriculum Learning Education Population Aging C93 - Field Experiments I20 - Education and Research Institutions: General I24 - Education and Inequality Preschool learning;socioemotional learning;early childhood development;parent engagement;randomized controlled trial In this article we experimentally evaluate Colombia’s Think Equal program, which teaches socioemotional skills to children ages 3 to 6. Given the context of COVID-19, the original design was adapted as a hybrid model, alternating in-person and remote instruction and engaging families in the implementation of the curriculum. We found that the program had positive effects on children’s prosocial behavior, self-awareness, and cognitive learning. The intervention also had an impact on education centers personnel (community mothers) and caregivers implementing the activities. Treated community mothers had higher levels of empathy, lower negative health symptoms, better pedagogical practices, and a closer relationship with the children’s caregivers compared with those in the control group. Treated caregivers had better stimulation practices and lower negative health symptoms compared with those in the control group. These findings suggest that a well-designed intervention has the potential to develop socioemotional skills in children at an early age and, at the same time, to develop capacities in those who implement the activities. Our results have important implications for the design, implementation, and evaluation of early childhood socioemotional learning programs and provide novel evidence about the challenges faced by interventions combining face-to-face and remote learning. Inter-American Development Bank María Mercedes Mateo-Berganza Díaz Emma Näslund-Hadley Margarita Cabra Laura Felizia Vélez Medina Steven Kennedy IDB Publications Colombia Latin America and the Caribbean en
institution BID
collection DSpace
country Estados Unidos
countrycode US
component Bibliográfico
access En linea
databasecode dig-bid
tag biblioteca
region America del Norte
libraryname Biblioteca Felipe Herrera del BID
language English
topic Children
Early Childhood Development
Socio-Emotional Skill
Socio-Emotional Development
Blended Learning
Skills
Randomized Controlled Trial
Early Childhood Education
Educational Research
Curriculum
Learning
Education
Population Aging
C93 - Field Experiments
I20 - Education and Research Institutions: General
I24 - Education and Inequality
Preschool learning;socioemotional learning;early childhood development;parent engagement;randomized controlled trial
Children
Early Childhood Development
Socio-Emotional Skill
Socio-Emotional Development
Blended Learning
Skills
Randomized Controlled Trial
Early Childhood Education
Educational Research
Curriculum
Learning
Education
Population Aging
C93 - Field Experiments
I20 - Education and Research Institutions: General
I24 - Education and Inequality
Preschool learning;socioemotional learning;early childhood development;parent engagement;randomized controlled trial
spellingShingle Children
Early Childhood Development
Socio-Emotional Skill
Socio-Emotional Development
Blended Learning
Skills
Randomized Controlled Trial
Early Childhood Education
Educational Research
Curriculum
Learning
Education
Population Aging
C93 - Field Experiments
I20 - Education and Research Institutions: General
I24 - Education and Inequality
Preschool learning;socioemotional learning;early childhood development;parent engagement;randomized controlled trial
Children
Early Childhood Development
Socio-Emotional Skill
Socio-Emotional Development
Blended Learning
Skills
Randomized Controlled Trial
Early Childhood Education
Educational Research
Curriculum
Learning
Education
Population Aging
C93 - Field Experiments
I20 - Education and Research Institutions: General
I24 - Education and Inequality
Preschool learning;socioemotional learning;early childhood development;parent engagement;randomized controlled trial
Inter-American Development Bank
Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia
description In this article we experimentally evaluate Colombia’s Think Equal program, which teaches socioemotional skills to children ages 3 to 6. Given the context of COVID-19, the original design was adapted as a hybrid model, alternating in-person and remote instruction and engaging families in the implementation of the curriculum. We found that the program had positive effects on children’s prosocial behavior, self-awareness, and cognitive learning. The intervention also had an impact on education centers personnel (community mothers) and caregivers implementing the activities. Treated community mothers had higher levels of empathy, lower negative health symptoms, better pedagogical practices, and a closer relationship with the children’s caregivers compared with those in the control group. Treated caregivers had better stimulation practices and lower negative health symptoms compared with those in the control group. These findings suggest that a well-designed intervention has the potential to develop socioemotional skills in children at an early age and, at the same time, to develop capacities in those who implement the activities. Our results have important implications for the design, implementation, and evaluation of early childhood socioemotional learning programs and provide novel evidence about the challenges faced by interventions combining face-to-face and remote learning.
author2 María Mercedes Mateo-Berganza Díaz
author_facet María Mercedes Mateo-Berganza Díaz
Inter-American Development Bank
topic_facet Children
Early Childhood Development
Socio-Emotional Skill
Socio-Emotional Development
Blended Learning
Skills
Randomized Controlled Trial
Early Childhood Education
Educational Research
Curriculum
Learning
Education
Population Aging
C93 - Field Experiments
I20 - Education and Research Institutions: General
I24 - Education and Inequality
Preschool learning;socioemotional learning;early childhood development;parent engagement;randomized controlled trial
author Inter-American Development Bank
author_sort Inter-American Development Bank
title Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia
title_short Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia
title_full Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia
title_fullStr Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia
title_full_unstemmed Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia
title_sort socioemotional learning in early childhood education: experimental evidence from the think equal program’s implementation in colombia
publisher Inter-American Development Bank
url http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0004877
https://publications.iadb.org/en/socioemotional-learning-early-childhood-education-experimental-evidence-think-equal-programs
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